business having made a $2.1bn bid to buy the fitness tracking

company Fitbit.

For Google this would be its biggest acquisition

since its 2014 purchase of Nest and would also

give it a product to rival Apple's watch.

Now, Fitbit shareholders must decide

whether to accept the deal, which

places a 19 per cent premium on the company based

on where its shares were trading before the deal was announced.

But Fitbit shareholders are unlikely to be the major hurdle

here.

Even if they do accept the deal it

is likely to spark the interest of regulators

here in Washington.

Already, David Cicilline, the chair

of the House antitrust committee,

has said he wants an immediate and thorough investigation.

Now, we've seen several advocacy groups, including

the Electronic Privacy Information Centre and the Open

Markets Institute, also weigh in.

I wouldn't be surprised if Elizabeth Warren,

the Democratic presidential candidate who

has called to break up big tech, also gets involved soon.

In this environment where several agencies are already

investigating the market power held by large technology

companies, I wouldn't be surprised

if the Federal Trade Commission or the Department of Justice

looks very carefully at this deal

before deciding whether it should go through.

But from conversations I've had with staffers in both agencies,

they are loath to be seen to be acting purely

out of political pressure.

It will be fascinating to see which way they

jump on this one.

Now, this week's question comes from Souvik Deb.

Souvik responded to my last vlog about the drone maker

DJI by asking: "Although understandable,

is it reasonable and even possible

for the US to scrutinise each and every Chinese company

doing their business in the US?

And what will be the political ramifications

since the Chinese can do the same with US companies

based in China?"

Well, Souvik, is it possible?

No.

But what US officials are doing are focusing on two main areas,

firstly where Chinese companies doing business in the US

have a lot of data on US citizens,

and secondly where those Chinese companies have some kind

of a lead over their US rivals.

Huawei was the classic example of both of those categories.

And now we're seeing similar warnings

being made about TikTok, the viral video sharing

platform owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

And what will be the political ramifications?

Well, Beijing has announced a tech blacklist

where it says it is willing to put US tech companies who

fall foul of their rules, pretty much in retaliation

to what the US has done.

But so far, their action has been relatively restrained,

and that is because, I believe, Beijing

thinks and hopes that a lot of this

can be resolved in some eventual trade deal.

We'll have to watch whether that happens.

Thanks very much for the comment.

And if you have a question which you

want me to answer in next week's vlog,

please leave it in the comments below.